'Dentaly' Dazed and Confused

dpdphoto@aol.com · medicine forum beginner Joined: 24 May 2006 Posts: 1

I'm the kind of person that when a problem comes up in life, I really
try to learn about it and understand what's going on. I get frustrated
when things become 'gray' and don't really seem to make sense.

I have 5 teeth that have been filled in my life, three of which were in
my teen years. Up until recently, I've always been told I have really
good oral hygiene, and they've always told my mother that as well.
Personally, I thought "really good" would mean no cavities at all, but
I took their word for it.

I've pretty much had the same diet my whole life, and never really
changed my oral hygiene habits... If anything, I'm better at brushing
and flossing now, more then ever. I also don't drink coffee or soda,
and don't smoke.

I've gone to the same dentist for the last 20 years. After the first
cavities in my teens, I didn't have any for about 15 years or more, and
got nothing but compliments at the dentist. But, then I broke down and
didn't go for three years. I was fully expecting to have some problems
after that... But they still said everything looks great. Then I came
back in 6 months, and they proceeded to tell me I had 2 "bad" cavities.
The fact that she was drilling for what seemed like forever, seemed to
prove that. After this, I was a little confused. I had always
understood that cavities were a fairly slow process... If I had gotten
them after 3 years of not going, it would have made a lot more sense to
me. But going from nothing to 2 bad cavities in 6 months seems odd.

For the last 3-4 years, everything seemed to be fine again, as I once
again was getting nothing but compliments each time I went in. Then
recently, that dentist retired, and a younger guy took over the
practice. I came in to see him for the first time, and instantly
realized everything had changed. None of the original people were there
anymore. As soon as I sat down, I knew I was in trouble... What use to
be a fairly painless half hour cleaning, turned into a 1 hour grueling
torture fest, which left me with the impression that they thought my
mouth was a train wreck. I was told I should come back in just 4 months
to see if a few inflamed gums had gone down from a 4-5 scale by then.
Huh? The Hygienist then said she didn't see anything on the x-rays
though, so I should be OK. Whew!

Then the Dentist comes in... Wrong! He tells me I had one new cavity
and others developing around fillings in 4 other teeth. I have to be
honest, I was pretty much devastated at that point. He showed me a
photo he took, which shows a little thin brown line in the natural
crevice on the unfilled tooth, and tiny brown lines around the
perimeter of the fillings, and also branching out a bit into a couple
of the natural crevices on the other 4 teeth. When I asked him why I
had gone from getting almost nothing but compliments for 20 years with
the old Dentist, to 5 cavities in one checkup with him... He told me
that Dentists have different ways of handling things... Some wait, and
some are more aggressive.

I have no idea what a cavity is supposed to look like, but the photos
he took seem to indicate they are really there? I'm kind of at a loss
at this point... It seems more then a coincidence to me that I had very
few problems for 20 years, then switch Dentists, and all of the sudden
it's like my mouth is falling apart according to them. I don't have a
dental plan, and can't afford to pay for stuff that isn't necessary.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Dave

Steven Bornfeld · medicine forum Guru Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 492

dpdphoto@aol.com wrote:

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